PRESCOT. 



PRESTWICH. 



Vienna, in 48 8' N. lat., 17 10' 45" E. long., and haa 38,000 inhabit- 

 ants. It is built on a hill of moderate height, commanding a fine 

 view over an extensive plain watered by the Danube, which is here 

 crossed by a bridge of boats 365 paces in length. The town is said 

 to have existed in the time of the Romans. In 1446, Ofen having 

 fallen into the hands of the Turks, Presburg was declared the capital 

 of Hungary, and the diets were long held here. In 1784, Joseph II. 

 decided tbat the viceroy and palatine, with the high officers of govern- 

 ment, should reside at Ofen, as a more central situation. The emperor 

 is however still crowned in Presburg as king of Hungary. The trade 

 of the city is considerable in consequence of its vicinity to Vienna 

 (with which it is connected by railroad), and of the navigation of the 

 Danube by steamers. The town is handsomely built. The principal 

 buildiugs are the cathedral, in which the kings of Hungary are 

 crowned ; the county -hall, the ancient senate-house, the archiepiscopal 

 palace, and the theatre. Among the public institutions are several 

 academies, a royal model school, an hospital, and a public library of 

 60.000 volumes. On a hill outside the city, 439 feet above the level 

 of ill-' Danube, are the remains of the royal palace, which was burnt 

 down in 1811, and has not been restored. It was in this palace that 

 the Hungarians uttered the famous outburst of loyalty towards their 

 ' King,' Maria Theresa. The manufactures comprise woollens, silks, 

 tobacco, snuff, oil, rosogHo, and leather. The transit trade in corn, 

 linen, and Hungarian wines is important. A treaty was signed at 

 Presburg in 1805, after the battle of Austerlitx, by which Venice 

 was ceded to France, and the Tyrol to Bavaria. The defences of the 

 town were greatly strengthened in 1850. 



PRESCOT, Lancashire, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-La w 

 Union, iu the parish of Prescot, is situated in 53" 25' K. lafc, 2" 48' 

 W. long., distant 8 miles E. from Liverpool, and 198 miles N.W. from 

 London. The population of the town of Prescot in 1851 was 7393. 

 The living a a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Liverpool and diocese 

 of Chester. Preecot Poor-Law Union contains 20 parishes and town- 

 ships, with an area of 56,859 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 :,'< : ;. 



The town in lighted with gas, and paved. The chief business of 

 the town ia the manufacture of watch movements. Small files are 

 manufactured to a considerable extent. Coarse earthenware, sugar 

 moulds, Ac. arc manufactured. The market-days are Tuesday and 

 Saturday; fain fire held in June and November, and fortnightly 

 cattle-fairs in the spring months. The parish church has a lofty tower, 

 surmounted with a spire 156 feet high. The Wesleyan Methodists, 

 Independent*, and Baptists have places of worship, and there are a 

 Grammar school, founded in 1762, which had 90 scholars in 1852; a 

 school for girls, an Infant school, a news-room, and a savings bank. 

 A county court is held in the town. 



I'RESCOTT. [CAKADA.J 



PRE3SIGXY-LE-GRAND. [LiDBK-K-LoiBt] 



PRK , Radnorshire, the county town, a market-town, 



parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the 

 parish of Presteigne, in situated in 52 14' N. lat, 2 6V W. long., 

 distant 151 miles W.N.W. from London. The population of the 

 borough of Presteigne was 1617 in 1851. The living is a rectory in 

 the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford. The borough u contribu- 

 tory to Radnor in returning a member to the Imperial Parliament. 

 Presteigne Poor- Law Union contains 16 townships, with an area of 

 25,534 scrvs, and a population in 1851 of 3493. 



Presteigne stands at the extreme eastern verge of the county, in a 

 fertile valley watered by the river Lug. The church is a spacious 

 edifice, partly of decorated and partly of perpendicular style ; it has 

 a square tower at the west end. Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, 

 and Baptists have chapels. The Free Grammar school, which has an 

 income from endowment of 130/. a year, had scholars in 1852. 

 The anizes, quarter sessions, and a county court are held in Presteigne. 

 The shire hall and county jail are modern buildings. The market- 

 day is Saturday. Three fairs are held in the course of the year. 



PRESTON, Lancashire, a market and manufacturing town, muni- 

 cipal and parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, 

 in the parish of Preston, is situated on the right bank and near the 

 head of the estuary of the river Kibble, where it receives the Darwen 

 and the Lostock, in 53' 46' N. lat, 2" 42' W. long., distant 22 miles 

 L by W. from Lancaster, 217 miles N.W. by N. from London by road, 

 and 210 miles by the North- Western railway. The population of the 

 borough in 1851 was 69,542. The borough u governed by 12 alder- 

 men and 36 councillor*, one of whom is mayor; and returns two 

 members to the Imperial Parliament. The living U a vicarage in the 

 archdeaconry of Lancaster and diocese of Manchester. Preston Poor- 

 Law Union contains 28 townships, with an area of 63,035 acres, and 

 a population in 1851 of 95.7SJ. 



Preston is a place of high antiquity, and u supposed to have been 

 named Priest's town from its religious booses, of which vestiges still 

 appear. Its origin is traced to the decay of Ribchester, the Roman 

 station Rigodunum, 11 miles up the river. The town was held by 

 Tostig, brother of Harold II., and became a borough by prescription. 

 It received 13 royal charters, from the time of Henry II. to that of 

 Charles II. The place was partly destroyed by Robert Bruce in 1322. 

 In the parliamentary war it declared for the king, and was besieged 

 and taken by General Fairfax, In 1715 the Jacobite insurgents, under 



Foster, entered the town, and erected barricades for its defence, but 

 after a brave resistance were forced to surrender. 



The town is built on an eminence rising 120 feet from the Ribble. 

 It occupies an area about a mile and a half square. There are some 

 good terraces and squares, and the bouses are in general well built. 

 The town ia lighted with gaa, and for the most part well-paved and 

 supplied with water. The river ia crossed by Walton bridge, on the 

 London road, a structure of three arches, erected in 17S2 ; and about 

 a mile and a half below it, Penwortham bridge, on the Liverpool road, 

 consisting of five arches, and about a century old. A viaduct of the 

 North Union railway has five arches, and rises 68 feet above the 

 stream. 



Preston contains 10 Established places of worship. The parish 

 church, originally dedicated to St. Wilfred, was rebuilt in 1770, and 

 dedicated to St. John. St. George's church ia a brick building, 

 erected in 1723. The church of the Holy Trinity was built in 

 1814. St. Peter's, erected in 1824, and St. Paul's in 1825, both in the 

 modern gothic style, were built by grants from the parliamentary 

 commissioners. The Roman Catholics have four chapels, one of which 

 ia a very elegant building; the Wesleyan Methodists three; the 

 Baptists three ; the Independents two ; tbe Primitive, Episcopalian- 

 Primitive, and Association Methodists, Laily Huntingdon's Connexion, 

 Unitarians, Quakers, Swedenborgians, and Mormons one each. The 

 Free Grammar school, founded in 1663, of which the mayor and 

 corporation are patrons, has an income from endowment of about 

 150?. a year, and had about 130 scholars in 1852. There are eleven 

 National and five Infant schools, a Blue-Coat school, and a school for 

 the deaf and dumb. The Institution for the Diffusion of Useful 

 Knowledge has one of the finest structures in the town, with a library 

 of 5000 volumes, and an excellent museum. There are a literary and 

 philosophical institution, an agricultural society, and three public 

 libraries, the Palatine, Dr. Shepherd's, and the Law library, which are 

 accessible to all classes of readers. The other principal buildings are 

 the guildhall, a handsome brick building in the centre of the town ; 

 a fine court-house, erected in 1826 ; assembly rooms; a neat theatre; 

 the custom-house, corn-exchange, cloth-hall, and market-house ; the 

 dispensary and house of recovery; public baths and wash-houses, 

 buUt by the corporation, and opened in 1851; an extensive range of 

 barracks, at Fulwood, about a mile from the town ; the union work- 

 house ; the borough prison ; and a large county penitentiary. There 

 are nine almsbouscs in the place, a savings bonk, and several benefit 

 and provident societies. 



Preston is now one of the great seats of the cotton manufacture in 

 England. The manufacture of linen, which was formerly the staple 

 trade of the place, is still of considerable extent. There are several 

 flax-mills. Hand-loom weavers are numerous. There are several iron- 

 and brass-foundries and machine factories. Malting and brewing, 

 tanning, and rope-making are carried on. The borough has au ancient 

 fishery on the Ribble, which abounds with salmon, smelt, plaice, and 

 eels. The river is navigable at upring-tides to within a quarter of a 

 mile of the lower bridge for vessels drawing 12 feet of water. Preston 

 U a free port, and there are bonding warehouses on the quay. Coal 

 is brought in by the navigation of the Douglas River, which joins the 

 Ribble eight miles below the town. The number and tonnage of 

 vessels registered at the port of Preston on December 31st 1853 were 

 as follows : Under 50 tons, 79 sailing-vessels of 3007 tons, and 5 

 steam-vessels of 145 tons; above 50 tons, 42 sailing-vessela of 3929 

 tons, and 4 steam-vessels of 768 tons. During 1853 tbe entries at the 

 port were: Inwards, sailing-vessels 510, tonnage 29,066; steam-vessels 

 72, tonnage 9270 : outwards, sailing-vessels 595, tonnage 31,247 ; 

 steam-vessels 8, tonnage 870. By the Lancaster Canal, Preston com- 

 municates northward with Lancaster and Kendal, and southward with 

 Chorlcy, where the Leeds and Liverpool Caual connects the town with 

 the great canal system of the manufacturing districts. By railways 

 Preston has communication with all parts of the kingdom. Annual, 

 general, and quarter sessions, a county court, and a court of chaucery 

 for Lancashire (alternately with Liverpool) are held in the town. 

 Races are held annually in the Holme, on the left bank of the river. 

 A horse-fair, called Great Saturday, is held during the week ending 

 the first Sunday after Epiphany ; a fair of three days begins 

 March 27th, one of eight days May 26th, and one of five days 

 November 7th. A festival called a Guild Merchant is held by the 

 corporation every twentieth year for a week at the end of August or 

 beginning of September. The markets are held in a spacious and 

 well-paved square in the centre of the town. The Saturday market, 

 which is the largest, is principally for corn ; those of Wednesday and 

 Friday are for butter, vegetables, and fish. 



PRESTON, GREAT, West Riding of Yorkshire, a village, and the 

 seat of a Gilbert's Poor-Law Incorporation, in the parish of Kippax, 

 U situated in 53" 46' N. lat, 1" 23' W. long., distant 8 miles E.S.E. 

 from Leeds, and 184 miles N.N.W. from London. The population of 

 the joint township of Great and Little Preston in 1851 was 464. 

 Great Preston Poor-Law Incorporation comprises 43 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 69,626 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 22,316. 



PRESTON PANS. [HADDINOTONSHIRE.] 



PRESTWICH, Lancashire, a village, and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Prestwich-curu-Oldham, ia situated in 53 32' 



